During the holiday season, as humans enjoy the luxury of spending time with our loved ones, the only relevant constant for the animals is that they are afforded no relief. They are entombed in cages inside granite bunkers, deprived of every semblance of normality and destined to die in the misery that enriches their tormentors. And as their freedom fighters, the only significance this season should have for us to assess our strategies, our gains and losses over the past 12 months, and figure out how to go forward with greater focus and vehemence as each year unwinds.

The sad truth is that we are at war. And the only way in which to save the animals is to prevent them from ever falling victim to labs, fur farms, circuses, factory farms, and industrial abusers of every stripe. But our forte is the vivisection complex. And contrary to the conventionally-accepted welfare model that dominates this movement and seeks to set the standards for activists, Negotiation Is Over will never grovel for crumbs at the tables of the Nazis who release an occasional victim to sanctuary while ensnaring dozens more nameless captives to take their place. We seek to end the torment. And we will do it by any means necessary, with or without anyone’s approval.

And as this year comes to an end, we are celebrating our victories for the monkeys that were gained through the coordinated efforts of our on-the-ground and online supporters. YOU have helped us save countless victims. For this, please accept our humble appreciation and gratitude for your continued support.

At this time last year, on behalf of Eleventh Hour for Animals, I initiated a third lawsuit against the University of Florida to compel disclosure of their public vivisection records. After having lost two previous lawsuits initiated by my colleague, they conceded to our demands and turned over their documents out of court. Mainstream activist organizations are in the business of using these records to highlight welfare violations, perpetuating the vivisection complex’s propaganda that welfare laws ensure humane, responsible, or worthwhile “research.” Therefore, while doing a genuine disservice to every animal that is mutilated at the business end of a vivisector’s scalpel, the vivisectors generally willingly hand over these records to their welfarist counterparts. For us, however, other than to penetrate labs, we have no use for the USDA or welarists. And we only use federal complaints as a tool to reach the imprisoned animals!

So do our unconventional, confrontational, and controversial methods work? Let’s take a look at the last 12 months…

We gained major headlines decrying our confrontational tactics over “monkey torture” and “animal rights.” The Institute for Critical Animal Studies recognized the University of Florida as one of the 5 worst universities for animals in the country. Since we exposed their unconscionable horse experiments and created outrage among horse lovers who were in disbelief at the images we published, there are no longer any horses imprisoned or having their legs broken inside UF. Since we uncovered the heinous monkey experiments being funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, that project was shut down with expedience and future contracts with UF were dissolved. This is because of every single one of YOU who supported us and created a public relations nightmare for both Michael J. Fox and the University of Florida. So this holiday season, please celebrate this small victory with us. We saved countless monkeys from enduring brain damage and certain death inside UF’s torture chambers. And this is only because we know how to get the information and how to use it EFFECTIVELY to expose war criminals and shut down their crimes. We create the liabilities that render their animal torture enterprise unprofitable.

In fact, since Negotiation Is Over/Eleventh Hour began our campaign in October of 2010, all of our documents from inside UF’s labs in conjunction with information from both the USDA and the NIH indicate that as this year comes to a close, nonhuman primate experiments will be phased out and eliminated entirely over the next year. When we can confirm that the monkey experiments are over once and for all, we will celebrate indeed. For now, we can confirm that no new monkeys have fallen victim on our watch this year. Let’s compare that to the pre-2010 numbers where an occasional victim would be released in secrecy and dozens more would take their place to die horrific deaths with the full knowledge and consent of the welfarists.

Unfortunately, the greatest allies the vivisectors have gained are the internal saboteurs within our own community who, rather than helping a single animal on their own, have worked diligently throughout 2014 to derail our efforts. And for this reason, we have not made as much progress for the 100s of dogs and cats succumbing to torturous cruelties — fully in accordance with federal “welfare” regulations — inside UF. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of exposing their tormentors and ending their nightmare. But this too has been a learning experience. It is clear to everyone on the inside of the NIO/Eleventh Hour paradigm that we need to expend whatever resources are necessary to neutralize our saboteurs so that we may regroup and turn our full attention back to fighting for the animals. THEY are the ONLY victims of infighting and personal vendettas between activist factions.

The years have taught us how to penetrate labs legally, how to break all the rules, and do what the animals need us to do to win their liberation. We have a track record for winning. And we’ve only just begun to fight. But now we want to multiply and expand. We want every grassroots activist to adopt our tactics, apply our model, and create the nightmare in which WE entomb the vivisectors. Please see this guide and feel free to contact eleventhhour@riseup.net for support and help getting your own initiatives off the ground. It is our privilege to work with you and we welcome the opportunity.

After 20 years, our comrades in Israel just successfully closed down Mazor Farms and eliminated this huge piece from the global slave trade infrastructure. All of us at NIO send our love and respect to our friends at The Monkey Struggle in Israel and we are celebrating this major victory across continents. A friend in Israel told one of our colleagues here that they are glad to know that they can entrust the monkeys to us now that the vivisection complex seeks to make Florida ground zero for primate breeders. We take that very seriously and, indeed, are feeling the weight of having these mercenaries relocate to the states. But we know that with our networks inside Florida focused and intact, and with the support of our global community, we will prevail for the animals.

We are also inspired by the National Operation Anti-Vivisection in the UK, the newest players to enter the battlefield this year. Their bold, exciting, and unconventional tactics have garnered global criticism from the vivisection complex and massive media coverage. Publicity is the lifeblood of political activism and NOAV has proven to be highly adept at shining a spotlight into the darkened bloody labs where animals perish. NIO is proud to call these activists our friends and colleagues and look forward to working together.

And on November 15 of this year, we were honored to work with our colleagues across countries and across continents in an unprecedented action for Animal Liberation. From Florida to Russia to Israel to Minnesota, we went out into the vivisectors’ neighborhoods to shatter their peace of mind and make a statement that as long as the global vivisection complex profits from their global slave trade, we will continue to learn to work as a united global network of progressive activists determined to stop them!!!

We will never back down to abusers. And as committed activists continue to be rewarded with false arrests, constitutionally-offensive injunctions, malicious prosecutions, raids, incarcerations, and orchestrated harassment for our efforts, we are going forward infinitely more prepared and undeterred in our mission. As long as there is slavery, we are at war and will never back down!

Eleventh Hour for Animals (the Florida-based chapter of Negotiation Is Over) are independent journalists protected by the First Amendment-based privilege that protects us from legal actions that threaten the integrity of our effort to gather and disseminate news. There is no intent, express or implied, to encourage any illegal activity and we assume no liability for how the information we publish will be used by any third party. All donations to Eleventh Hour go exclusively to legal fees and other actions taken directly to help the animals.